The Ties That Bind Us
by Yukosei
Summary: "I will help him," Sakura declared, "I will be his friend even if my parents don't want me to!" is the conviction of a young Sakura. Naruto finds himself with a friend in his childhood. Someone to play with, comfort him, teach him and - most importantly - love him. Naruto would overcome anything for his most precious person.
1. I Will Be His Friend

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, but I would purchase it on dvd/blu-ray. If it was on special. Maybe.

Haruno Sakura was a shy, self-conscious six year old girl. She had naturally pink hair, a rarity even for one with a bloodline limit – not that she knew anything about those yet – which was just short of shoulder length with her fringe always covering her forehead. Her self-conscious behaviour stemmed from constant bullying about the size of her forehead. It wasn't that big, was it? Sakura was glad that was the only thing she was bullied about; she happened to like her pink hair.

"Forehead Girl! You look like you're having fun today!" a voice called out, abusively. Sakura looked up with daisies in her hand. She had been picking flowers in a field to make into a bouquet for her parents. Her green eyes caught sight of three girls she wished she had never met. Ami had purple hair styled in an asymmetrical cut and brown eyes. She wore a pink and red striped blouse over a dark blue dress. Fuki had short spiky red hair and big brown eyes. She wore a half green and yellow blouse, light pants and a grey scarf. Kasumi had a light brown afro and squinted at her, almost implying she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She wore a purple dress with long, pale pink sleeves over a mesh underneath.

"You're trying to make yourself look better recently!" Ami called out again as the girls approached a speechless Sakura. She knew her forehead was big, that was why she used her pink hair to hide it. Ami was completely right, so what could Sakura say in response? The daisies she had been picking fell out of her hand as her grip loosened, unconsciously.

"Three-quarter pants! Did your parents not think you were worth the full length!?" Fuki asked, nastily. Sakura could feel tears forming in her eyes. They'd never brought her parents up before. She liked these beige pants, what was wrong with them? Her parents loved her; they wouldn't think her not worth it. She supposed the three tears in the upper arms of her blue shirt were tacky, not stylish, and the brown shade of her sandals wasn't the _right_ brown shade.

"Aha!" shouted Kasumi, having suddenly realised what she was looking at, "I've been trying to figure out what it was this _whole_ time. What could be poking out from behind that fringe of yours? It's that massive forehead!" All three of the girls laughed uproariously at this. The tears fell, unbidden from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't show more weakness to these girls, these monsters. But it hurt so much. Suddenly, she realised she was on her knees. When had she fallen to the ground?

"I don't like this game," a voice beside her said, "how about we play tag?" Sakura looked up to see a boy around the same age as her kneeling beside her. She hadn't noticed him approach her, or kneel beside her. Who was he?

"M-m-monster!" Fuki stuttered, pointing at the newcomer.

"Don't be ridiculous Fuki," Ami chastised. Honestly, there was no such thing as monsters.

"Ami, it's _him_!" Kasumi said, tugging on her sleeve.

"What is with y-" Ami's eyes bulged. It was _him_!

"RUN!" she bellowed, and the girls took off screaming.

Sakura whipped her head around to look at the monster beside her. Monster? It was just the boy who wanted to play tag. With the girls gone, apparently thanks to him, she now really noticed him. He had spiky blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She'd never seen such a pretty blue. If only there were flowers around here in the same shade. He wore a white shirt with a thin red spiral, green shorts and blue sandals. The outfit didn't really go together, but she was more than willing to ignore that. She was about to thank him when she looked a little closer at his face. Did he have whiskers? They looked like some kind of birthmark. Maybe that was why the girls thought he was a monster. It was kind of funny now that she thought about it.

"Say," the boy began. He looked down and shuffled his feet nervously. This confirmed he couldn't be a monster. Everyone knew monsters didn't get nervous. She noticed him look up and he tried to ask again.

"Do your parents really not think you're worth full length pants?"

This was about the last thing that Sakura expected. She _liked_ these pants. She _chose_ these pants. Then again, she didn't think her forehead warranted the level of scrutiny shown by the girls. Maybe she was just naïve. She shook her head vehemently. Her parents _loved_ her!

"Oh," was all he said. He sounded sad. It was then she realised that she had spoken out loud. Why would telling him her parents loved her make him sad? Was he an orphan? The boy turned around and started to walk away, dejectedly. She'd said something wrong somehow. She had to make this right.

"D-do you want to p-pick flowers with me" Sakura asked a little hopefully. She would like the company. The boy spun around, eyes lighting up and nodded his head vigorously. Sakura smiled. He was kind of weird, but when he was happy he gave off a warm vibe.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto and someday I'm going to be the Hokage!" He declared, holding out his hand with a grin. Sakura giggled. He was weird, but he seemed nice.

"M-my name is Haruno S-Sakura."

**# # #**

Naruto brought a fistful of dandelions up to Sakura with a huge grin, "Hey Sakura, don't these flowers look like my hair?" He held them out to her, proudly.

"N-naruto-kun, those are w-weeds. . ."

"WHAT!?" Naruto jumped back and opened his hand, allowing the dandelions to fall.

"This is unforgivable! You totally look like flowers, and you look like my hair, but you're weeds!?" he shouted, pointing an accusation at the loose pile that had now hit the ground.

Sakura giggled. Naruto was funny. But she got the impression he really didn't know much about flowers. If only she could find some flowers that were the blue of his eyes. It was such a pretty blue.

"N-naruto, have you seen a f-flower that looks like this," Sakura held up a red rose she managed to find, "but is blue l-like y-your eyes?"

"Hmm," Naruto thought intensely. He closed his eyes, cupped his elbow with his left and stroked his chin with his right thumb and forefinger. It was his thinking pose.

"Hmm"

"N-naruto? You look like you're in p-pain. . ."

"Aha! I think I know where to find one!" Naruto proceeded to dash off into the trees at the right edge of the field.

A few minutes later he returned sprinting with his hand held high triumphantly, in it was a blue rose, just a little darker than the blue of his eyes. It was close enough.

"Sakura I don't know why you want this thing, it's covered in small spikes." He handed her the rose and she saw that the thorns had cut his hand.

"Naruto, your hand!"

"Huh?" Naruto glanced down. "It's just a few cuts; they'll heal in a few hours. More importantly, why are those weeds when they look awesome like my hair and that a flower when it has spikes!?"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at this. She laughed so hard that she dropped the flowers she was holding and clutched her stomach. Naruto began to laugh to. They laughed until they could barely breath and were both lying on the ground.

"Hey Sakura," Naruto rolled over to face her. "Do you want to be my friend?"

Sakura smiled and realised that he wasn't going to make fun of her, he genuinely liked being around her. "Hai!" she nodded, and they shook hands again. Sakura had no idea that this was the beginning of a friendship that would change the world.

**# # #**

Sarutobi Hiruzen walked by a field flanked by two masked ANBU guards. The Third Hokage wore the red and white robes of his office and the traditional red and white had with white fabric falling from the sides to frame his face and the stylised kanji for fire (火) at the front. It hid the grey hair on his head, but left the grey goatee he had decided to adopt. The ANBU wore the standard black clothing under a grey flak jacket and metal armbands. One of them had a thin sword strapped to his back.

It sometimes rankled him that he couldn't go for a walk in the afternoon by himself, but he understood the reason for the policy. After all, he was the one who put it in place during his previous tenure. He glanced out into the field to see two young children collecting flowers and laughing. There was a pink-haired girl and a boy with spiky, blonde – Hiruzen stopped and squinted. That was definitely Naruto.

"Uh-oh, that girl's playing with _him_," the ANBU with the monkey mask noted. He was the one with the sword strapped to his back.

"Hokage-sama, should we notify the girl's parents so they can get her away?" the feline-masked ANBU inquired.

Both ANBU jumped at the sudden explosion of killing intent they felt from the village leader they flanked. He may be advancing in years and retired once already, but he was still a man to be feared.

"H-hokage-sama?" they stuttered in unison. Hiruzen spun around to glare holes through the animal masks. Suddenly the masks felt extremely hot and confining, sweat was building up between their skin and the fabric they wore.

"I will say this once. If either of you make any moves to interfere with that boys activities when he makes no aggressive or threatening moves I will consider it treason under _that_ law. Am I understood?"

"Hai Hokage-sama!" the ANBU again answered in unison and saluted.

'_I'm glad you've found a friend Naruto_,' Hiruzen thought as he walked back towards the Hokage's Office in the administrative section of the Academy. '_You've been forced to go through and been deprived of so much. I'll do what I can do ensure you manage to keep at least this one thing."_

**# # #**

Sakura looked lost in thought as she walked home along the streets of Konoha. When those girls had turned up earlier, she thought this was going to be a terrible day. However, her new friend Naruto had somehow scared them off and she'd enjoyed spending the afternoon picking flowers with him. He'd even found her a blue rose to add to the bouquet for her parents.

"Hey, Sakura!" a voice called out from in front of her. She really needed to pay attention to where she was going, she hadn't realised she was approaching the Yamanaka Flower Store. It had in fact been the Yamanaka daughter Ino who had called out to her. She had blonde hair of a similar length to Sakura's with unique eyes. They were green, like Sakura's, but her iris was thin and black with her pupil large and green. They were beautiful eyes. Why couldn't she have such beautiful eyes as Ino or Naruto? Ino wore an orange sweater with brown lines travelling up and down the arm from the kanji for 'boar' (猪) which was in a brown circle. Her pants were brown and her sandals a lighter brown. Sakura noticed that the colours went together rather well.

"You've been crying again, haven't you? And you've been hiding your fringe," Ino stated. Even the first part was more a statement than a question.

"H-how did you know?" Sakura asked. There was no point in denying any of it, both statements were true.

"A woman can _always_ tell Sakura," Ino said knowingly. "Come inside, I have something for you." With that, Ino turned and walked into the store leaving Sakura with no choice but to follow. She stepped inside and nearly dropped the flowers that she was holding. There were so many beautiful flowers all around her! She gazed around in amazement.

"Close your eyes," Ino commanded, as she approached her from behind the service counter.

"W-why?" Sakura gulped. Did Ino have something planned to humiliate her? Was she just like all the other girls?

"Trust me," Ino said more gently and Sakura obliged. She felt Ino doing something with her hair and began to fidget.

"Stop moving, I'll be done in one moment," Ino commanded again. "There. Open your eyes now."

Sakura opened her eyes to see herself in a mirror Ino was holding out. Sakura cringed. Ino had tied a red ribbon in her hair which was now exposing her forehead.

"This will draw attention to the cuter features of your forehead. Plus, if you hide it away, it just fuels the taunting from those girls because they know you're sensitive. You need to be more confident. You're actually quite pretty when you draw attention to the right features. Not as pretty as me though," Ino winked at her.

Sakura couldn't help but smile at this. Ino was a really nice girl. Ino didn't realise how much of a gift this was. A simple thank you wouldn't be enough. She was reminded of the way she felt when hanging out with Naruto earlier.

"Hey Ino," Sakura looked up to face her, "do you want to be my friend?"

Ino smiled, "Sure, I'll train you to be almost as pretty and confident as me! Oh, do you want something to keep those flowers together? I can give you another ribbon to tie around the stems?"

"Arigato!"

This had been a _great_ day!

**# # #**

"Otōsan, Okāsan I'm home!" Sakura called out.

"Welcome home," her mother, Mebuki, called from the kitchen.

"Welcome home Sakura-chan!" Kizashi, her father, shouted running up to her. "Oh, what do we have here? Where did you find these?"

Her father was a tall man with a kind face, blue eyes and dull pink hair in the shape of a cherry blossom – probably an allusion to her own name. His sideburns flowed into his angular moustache and he wore a dark, loose-fitting kimono-shirt with a green inner-lining and sleeves extending beyond the kimono-shirt.

"Where did she find what?" Sakura's mother asked as she walked into the hallway, curious.

Her mother was fair-skinned with shoulder-length, blonde hair including a single band which fell down into her face. She wore a white qipao dress with red circular designs at the bottom and pink three-quarter pants. She had green, piercing eyes.

"My friend helped me pick these flowers for you," Sakura smiled, holding out the bouquet.

"They're beautiful Sakura," Mebuki said as she took the flowers to put into water.

"Oh, so you've made a friend now Sakura-chan," her father teased. "So, who is it? Where do they live? When can we meet them?"

"Hmm," Sakura said as she thought, adopting Naruto's thinking pose, "I don't know where he lives. I think he may be an orphan, but he was really nice. And Yamanaka Ino gave me the ribbons for my hair and the flowers. She's my friend now too."

"An orphan eh?" Kizashi mused. "You're so kind Sakura-chan. I bet we'll be able to impress him with our food hehe."

"Can I bring him around?" Sakura asked hopefully.

"What's his name?" her mother asked, re-entering the hallway.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Sakura answered.

Her parents froze. They glanced at each other and almost seemed to make a decision telepathically. Whatever it was, Sakura knew it wasn't going to be good.

"Sakura. . . we don't want you to hang around that boy anymore," Mebuki said carefully.

"He's bad news," Kizashi added.

"But he scared away the girls that were bullying me and helped me find the flowers for your bouquet!" Sakura exclaimed.

"He may seem nice at first-" her mother began.

"No, he _is_ nice," Sakura said firmly. She'd never spoken to her parents like this before. But then, no-one had ever asked her to be their friend before.

"Sakura, there are things you don't know, things you couldn't understand yet," Kizashi said.

"I'm sorry, but we forbid you to see that boy again. If you do, we'll have to ground you. You said that the Yamanaka girl was your friend too? Why don't you focus on her instead, she's a nice girl," Mebuki said, gently.

"NO! You can't make me," Sakura shouted and ran out of the house.

**# # #**

Sakura didn't pay any attention to the direction that she ran. Today had been such a good day, she'd made two friends who were willing to help her out and stick up for her and now her parents told her she couldn't be friends with one of them. They were acting like Naruto really was a monster. She could feel the tears in her eyes. It was so unfair.

She finally stopped running when breathing became more difficult and found herself in the field where she had met Naruto. Her mind must have led her here while she was thinking of him. The sky was darkening, signalling the end of the day. A cough behind her told her she wasn't alone. Sakura span around to find herself facing the Hokage.

"H-hokage-sama!" Sakura tried to bow and curtsy at the same time, resulting in a rather awkward knee-bending which she nearly fell over doing.

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled down at her "Ah you're the Haruno girl. I happened to see you playing with a young boy in the field here earlier today. You two looked like you were having fun."

Sakura looked down, sadly. It _was_ fun, but her parents didn't want her to ever see him again.

"You know," Hiruzen went on, "I have a friend that seems to be bullied a lot and people don't want me to be friends with him. It troubles me, because he's actually a really nice person. What do you think I should do Sakura?"

Sakura's head whipped up, shocked. The Hokage wanted her opinion on his friend!? She had to give a strong answer. Sakura wracked her brains for an answer that would show caring and be worthy to be given to the Hokage.

"H-hokage-sama you can b-be friends a-anyone you want," Sakura stammered.

"Sakura, you make it sound like I can only do that because I'm Hokage," Hiruzen said feigning surprise.

"N-no Hokage-sama, i-if they're nice t-there should be no p-problem. A-and they p-probably appreciate your f-friendship," Sakura stuttered. She was so nervous!

"That's what I think," Hiruzen smiled, "But I think he should have some friends his own age and ones who he can spend time with. The duties of my office are rather time consuming,"

Sakura was silent as she looked up at the Hokage. He was smiling down at her, discussing such a personal matter. Why would he discuss it with her? Did she know who it was?

"Naruto-kun is a nice boy, if a bit mischievous," Hiruzen chuckled, "he seemed so happy picking flowers with you earlier today."

"You know Naruto?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Naruto-kun is an old friend of mine," the Hokage stated simply.

"My parents don't want me to see him anymore," Sakura said sadly.

"Well, I would never try to overrule a parent's decision for their child, "Hiruzen began, "however I do wish people wouldn't judge him before they knew him. He's been through a lot and it saddens me when I cannot do anything to help him."

"I will help him," Sakura declared, "I will be his friend even if my parents don't want me to!"

"Thank you Sakura," Hiruzen placed a hand on her head before turning to walk away flanked by his ANBU guard. Sakura shivered. She'd been so focused on her conversation with the Hokage that she hadn't noticed them.

Sakura had a determined look on her face when she finally approached the door to her home. She had meant what she said to the Hokage. If Naruto was friends with the Hokage then he couldn't be the monster everyone thought he was. She was going to help him just like he helped her; after all, he was her first friend.

**Author's Notes:**

Phew! The first chapter is done! This is my first attempt at a fan fiction and all reviews are welcome to help me (hopefully) keep improving from here.

This chapter focused completely on back-story to set up the friendship between Naruto and Sakura. I told it from her perspective since it was up to her to keep the friendship going.

*I've changed it so that Sakura's age is 6 years old which is around the time she would have started at the academy from my research. There is some debate as to whether Naruto started at the same time as the rest. For this story, I'm going to make him start just after them. This means that Sakura has met these girls at the Academy and Naruto will be just about to join.

I have a lot of ideas for where this story will head in a different direction to canon, but I won't be putting very much in the Author's Notes because I don't want to give spoilers.

My aim is to publish a chapter once a week, although depending on my workload it may sometimes be more or less frequent. For example, this chapter took me three days, however I already knew exactly what I wanted to happen.

If you're reading all the way down to the bottom of these Author's Notes, thank you for reading my first chapter and please post a review even just highlighting something you liked or didn't like. It all helps!


	2. Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. If I did, the voice actor for Naruto in English wouldn't have been hired. No offense intended, but wrong voice for the role.

**# # #**

Umino Iruka was the head instructor of the Konoha Academy and the teacher for the class in their final year, looking to graduate. His hair was black, tied back into a ponytail and he had dark eyes and a scar, which ran across the bridge of his nose. Like most Chunin, he wore the standard Konoha Shinobi outfit including his forehead protector and flak jacket.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Iruka called out, impatiently. Hinata thought the attendance role had to be one of the most tedious parts of being a teacher, however she understood the importance of knowing who was there, particularly in the event of a disaster – such as the Kyuubi attack of eleven years ago, where a giant nine-tailed demon fox wreaked havoc upon Konoha. Hinata had dark blue hair, fair skin and the white eyes that were hereditary within her Hyuga clan. She wore a cream hooded jacket with fur around the hem and cuffs along with dark blue pants. It was commonly known that Hinata was rather timid, as proof she had stuttered nervously when her name was called earlier.

"Hai," Sasuke answered without expression. His elbows were propped on the desk and his head rested on a platform made by linking his fingers. He wore the traditional high-collared blue shirt with his clan crest on the back along with white arm warmers and shorts. His raven hair was spiky at the back and his fringe parted at the front to frame his face. Bored onyx coloured eyes stared through the teacher as he registered the answer.

". . . Uzumaki Naruto?" Iruka called out hesitantly

"Hai! Your future Hokage is here!" the boy declared boldly. It was the same as every day and just like every other day it brought a smile to Hinata's face. Naruto wore the same hideous orange tracksuit every day as well, with blue on the upper-shoulders and around the waist and a large white collar. Curiously he had a red swirl on the back and a white swirl with a tassel on the left arm. Sometimes Hinata wondered what it meant, but Naruto had told her once that he simply found the suit and it meant nothing.

At one time she had thought Naruto to be some sort of dangerous hooligan. As the Hyuga heir at the time, Hinata had never been allowed out of the clan's grounds without a bodyguard. No matter who happened to be her guard, they would always tell her 'avoid that trouble-maker Hinata-sama' or 'that boy is bad news Hinata-sama, stay away from him.' She still didn't understand what it was that made everyone dislike and distrust Naruto, but she couldn't stay away. Naruto had stepped in and saved her once from a group of bullies. The incident had resulted in him getting beaten up instead. Sakura had told her that Naruto was actually a friend of the Hokage himself! Something wasn't right for there to be so much hatred directed towards a friend of the Hokage, but Naruto took it all in stride. It was one of the things she admired about him.

"Today we will be discussing taijutsu. Put simply, taijutsu is hand-to-hand combat. However one could think of it as the optimisation of natural physical abilities," Iruka began to explain. Hinata jerked out of her thoughts, she needed to pay attention to this.

"Can anyone name for me a style of taijutsu found within Konoha?" Iruka asked the class. Sakura's hand, predictable, shot straight into the air.

"Sakura?"

"I've been reading about a style called Goken (Strong Fist). I'm not sure if it's exclusive to Konoha, but I found out that a Jonin-sensei named Maito Guy is highly proficient in it," Sakura stated proudly.

"S-Sakura, where do you get your information?" Iruka asked weakly. He looked astounded that she knew this. Hinata had heard of this style. When she had been the Hyuga heir her father had wanted her able to counter any style she might come up against. She had failed. It was one of the many reasons her younger sister, Hanabi, had replaced her as Hyuga heir. That was actually the reason she had been allowed to enrol in the Academy.

"All the information is in the library and if I want to know more I just have to ask the right person," Sakura said matter-of-factly.

"I'm impressed Sakura, you're very resourceful. I wish some students would learn from your example," Iruka said shaking his head.

"Oi, was that a crack at me!?" Naruto called out, jumping up onto his desk. "I'll have you know I can be very resourceful. How else do you think I managed to bolt your chair to the ground and glue your butt to it?!" Naruto crossed his hands triumphantly with that statement. Iruka's cheeks coloured faintly.

"Well then Naruto," Iruka smiled wickedly, "how about to show everyone how resourceful you can be – in a taijutsu spar!"

**# # #**

The class had gathered in a circle around the Academy training field. Iruka and Naruto stood in the middle. The blonde fidgeted with excitement beside him while Iruka debated internally over who his opponent should be. Naruto was dead last in everything they did, but Iruka had hoped being good friend with Sakura would teach him some useful habits. If anything, Sakura was an enabler for him. It wasn't that Iruka didn't like Naruto. In fact, Naruto actually reminded him of himself when he was younger in some ways. But Naruto needed to be shown where he was in relation to the other students.

"I want to fight Sasuke!" Naruto declared, pointing in the direction of the Uchiha.

"Hmph," Sasuke grunted, "recognise where your skills are dobe. If you can manage to beat just one person here, then I'll fight you again sometime."

The girl's in the class, besides Sakura, took up cries of 'Sasuke-kun is the best!' and 'You tell that loser Sasuke-kun!' with Ino's voice the loudest as she sidled up next to the young genius. Naruto's face contorted in rage and embarrassment.

"I'll wipe that arrogant look off of your face teme!"

"Naruto," Iruka interrupted, "Sasuke does have a point. But, if you really want a challenge to prove yourself why don't you fight Shino?"

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to Shino.

"Shino, where would you say you rank in taijutsu compared to the rest?" he asked.

Shino was the tallest member of the class. He had bushy dark brown hair, fair skin and always wore round, tinted glasses which hid his eyes. He wore a sea-green jacket with a high, upturned collar and plain brown pants.

"I have a good grasp of what Iruka-sensei has taught us. Combined with my own practise I estimate that at the current time only Sasuke would be considered definitively better than me. This is not to say that I would beat every other student for certain. There is more to any fight than simply skill and strength."

"Excellent, bring it on Shino!" Naruto challenged. Iruka took Shino's place in the circle as the young Aburame calmly walked to stand in front of Naruto in the centre.

"Remember, this is a spar and not a fight," Iruka called out, "I will declare a winner before anyone is seriously injured and if I call the fight off you will stop when I say. Understood?"

Both boys nodded, not taking their eyes off each other. Naruto's demeanour had changed, he looked to be serious and in the moment. Iruka resolved to give him a bit of a hand after class. He was likely to be quite down after being brought back down to earth. Shino was probably right with his estimation of being second only to Sasuke.

"Begin!"

"Shino," Naruto grinned, "no using your little friends to make this easier for you"

Shino's eyes widened in shock, he clearly hadn't expected Naruto to know of his clan's abilities. Naruto used the momentary advantage to drop onto a bent left leg and sweep his right leg in an attempt to trip his opponent. Shino was quick enough to jump over it, but Naruto rose smoothly on his left leg and as he reached full height, he planted his right leg behind him to generate more force as his fist connected with Shino's face and sent him sprawling.

"That was great Naruto-kun!" Sakura shouted gleefully. However, she was the only person there able to generate a verbal response to what happened. Iruka included, everyone else stood staring with their jaws dropped.

Shino picked himself up off the ground a little stiffly. He stared straight ahead at Naruto, unmoving. Naruto then settled into his taijutsu stance which brought another shock to Iruka. He held his left arm out with his palm raised in imitation of the Goken style Sakura had mentioned earlier while his right arm was raised beside his head like a boxer. His knees were bent, his left leg in front and toes facing forward and his right foot facing the side for balance. Iruka had never seen a stance like it. Nor had Shino apparently.

"I'm familiar with a number of taijutsu styles, but I have not seen this one before Naruto," he said as he settled into his own stance, the standard stance taught to Academy students, "what is it and where did you learn it?"

"Why would I tell my opponent something that might help him in a fight with me?" Naruto smiled.

Shino suddenly ran at Naruto, throwing a feint punch with his left hand before jumping back into a spinning right kick. Naruto swiftly changed his stance to bring his left arm up like his right to block the kick. He turned his body to grab Shino's leg and used his hips to throw him over his shoulder and into the ground. Shino grunted in surprise and pain while Naruto sprang back and resumed his stance.

Iruka couldn't believe his eyes. Naruto would struggle to land blows on any member of the class and had never won one taijutsu spar. There was no way he could have improved this much in such a short time. However, Sakura always seemed to think he was capable of more. Iruka began to wonder whether she knew something he didn't.

"I have underestimated you Naruto," Shino said as he regained his feet, "I will refrain from doing so again."

Shino walked purposefully towards Naruto and broke into a run. Naruto attempted to land a punch, but Shino came to an abrupt halt just outside of Naruto's reach. The miss created an opening which Shino used to get inside Naruto's defence and land a kidney punch. Naruto staggered and Shino landed a hammer-blow to send Naruto sprawling this time.

"Tch, still needs work," Naruto muttered. He rolled his hips to kick his legs out, catching Shino as he tried to jump out of the way. Naruto began to rise, aiming to follow up with a blow to Shino as he fell, but Shino was prepared and landed an elbow to Naruto's forehead as they both crashed to the ground.

"Enough!" Iruka declared, ending the spar. The two boys regained their feet and turned to their sensei.

"That was . . . everyone . . . that is to say . . ." Iruka tried to find the words, "a draw?"

Iruka couldn't believe the words he'd been forced to utter. This had been a completely different Naruto to the one he knew. He'd been focused and fought skilfully and intelligently. Maybe Sakura really did have a positive influence on him.

"Iruka-sensei, we haven't had a genjutsu cast on us as some sort of test or example have we?" asked Nara Shikamaru. He had dark brown, shoulder length hair tied in a spiky ponytail and brown, narrow eyes. He wore a mesh shirt underneath a short sleeved, grey jacket. Adorned on the back was a circle with a line through it. He also wore plain brown pants and the traditional blue Konoha sandals.

"As students you wouldn't be subjected to a genjutsu on this scale. However, I'm beginning to wonder if I've been duped here too," Iruka replied. He could count on one hand the number of people with the ability to cast such a genjutsu and unfortunately none of them would use their skills for a prank such as this. No, Naruto had definitely just tied with arguably the second most skilled in the class at taijutsu.

Naruto thought he'd be on top of the world after that taijutsu spar. He'd been hoping to beat Sasuke, but when he fought Shino instead, he'd expected to beat him. Shino said he'd underestimated him, but it was Naruto that had underestimated Shino. He thus concluded that he wasn't ready to beat Sasuke yet.

**# # #**

Iruka had grilled him after the match with questions on where he'd seen the Goken style, how he'd come up with his unique stance, how he had improved so quickly without anyone noticing or if he'd actually been pretending all along. Up until this fight, he'd been hiding his knowledge and skill. It had proven useful to have everyone think him a moron. Perhaps he would have been as untalented as everyone thought if he hadn't befriended Sakura years ago. Because, truthfully, he didn't learn anything from the Academy, at least not directly. Sakura had taken the time to teach him one-on-one to help him keep up to date. They had found that Naruto wasn't dumb or slow, he just required more attention from his teacher.

The rest of the class were calling the draw a fluke. Shino must have underestimated him. They, of course, ignored the fact that Shino claimed to rectify that mistake, and he wouldn't state that lightly. Sasuke's fangirls thought it was a plan to build up to an embarrassing loss to Sasuke. Things had always been like this though. He was one to be avoided. He never got credit for any accomplishment. Naruto honestly didn't know how things would have turned out if it weren't for Sakura. He didn't really want to think about it.

"Naruto-kun you were amazing!" Sakura exclaimed gleefully as she ran up to him. He'd just left Iruka's classroom after all the questioning. It had almost felt like getting in trouble, despite the fact he'd done well. Sakura had changed since they first met. Her hair was longer, down to the middle of her back and shortly after they'd met she began wearing a red ribbon in her hair so that her bangs framed her face. These bangs were now down just past her shoulders. Her attire was now a red qipao dress with short sleeves, although she had one without, and white circular designs.

"I can counter well enough, but when I miss my mark I'm wide open. I now know that it's not enough to beat Sasuke-teme yet," Naruto said glumly, "still, I needed this test to figure out what I need to improve."

"There was a time when you wouldn't figure out what you needed to improve, when you would just carry on blindly," Sakura teased.

"Oi, oi, I'm much better than I was then!" Naruto defended. Sakura giggled and it brought a smile to Naruto's face. She knew exactly how to cheer him up. He thought this must be what having a sibling was like. Someone who was always there with you, who saw you at your naïve worst and helped you grow from it.

"Thanks Sakura," he softly uttered.

"I hope I am not interrupting," a voice said from behind him, "but I feel a need to speak with you Naruto."

He turned around to see the same boy he'd been fighting with earlier, standing straight with his hands in his jacket pockets. Naruto was curious, Shino barely spoke to anyone, least of all him.

"Hey Shino, great fight earlier. But next time, I'm gonna wipe the floor with you!" Naruto grinned.

"Your challenge is accepted. However, the reason I am here is to apologise. I have let the views of others create an impression of you in my mind. You decisively proved this impression to be false and illogically developed," Shino stated, "I can now see that you have created a persona and the real you is someone who deserves respect."

"Gah, Shino you're breaking my brain!" Naruto cried in mock agony.

"How?" Shino said, quite alarmed.

"Oh Shino, he's just making a joke at the way you speak," Sakura laughed.

"I think before I speak and use logic to dictate what I say," Shino replied.

"Too many big words!" Naruto proceeded to imitate passing out.

"I am confused," Shino said uncertainly. Naruto's eyes shot open.

"We're going to work on your sense of humour Shino," Naruto said dejectedly when Shino gave no response to his performance. Sakura, on the other hand, was clutching her stomach laughing. He could always count on her to enjoy his acts.

"Can I take your attempt at humour as a sign that my apology has been accepted?" Shino asked.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Everyone else might treat me like crap, but you just ignored me really. I didn't mind that. I don't consider that you've wronged me. If it makes you feel better, I accept it," Naruto said the last part somewhat dismissively.

"And _I_ forgive you for not believing me when I told everyone that Naruto is better than Sasuke," Sakura added.

"But-" Shino began.

"Ah just leave that Shino," Naruto interrupted hastily. Shino merely nodded.

"If you wish to spar again, I am willing," Shino told him, "but for now I must return home. I will need to train if I am to beat you next time."

"Bring it on!" Naruto challenged with a grin. Shino had acknowledged him. For years the only people who acknowledged him were Sakura and the Hokage. Iruka-sensei did on some level Naruto had to admit. He, at least, kept making the effort for him. Now he could include Shino on that list.

Naruto's dream was to become Hokage, to be the strongest ninja in the village. If he did that, everyone would have to acknowledge him. Naruto felt he'd taken a small step in the right direction.

**# # #**

Sakura stared straight ahead at the girl furthest away from her. Yamanaka Ino was staring at the boy in the training area, beating a padded, wooden training dummy. All of the girls were there to gaze at him as he practised. The boy was Uchiha Sasuke, the genius of their year. Practically all of the girls in their year fawned over him, and it wasn't limited to just their year. Ino was one of these girls and because Sasuke though lowly of Naruto, she shared the same opinion. Sakura thought it was an attempt to have more in common with the prodigy, but say something enough times and one will begin to believe it themselves.

Ino's opinion of Naruto had led to numerous arguments between the two. Ino often referred to Sakura as 'Forehead-girl' and Sakura often referred to Ino as 'Ino-pig'. The two were still friends however. At least, they were right now. Perhaps not after what Sakura had to say.

"Ino, I need to speak with you," Sakura said as she came up to her friend.

"You hear to brag about the dobe, Forehead-girl?" Ino sneered.

"Don't call him that!" Sakura shook her head, "This is serious,"

"Okay, I'm listening," Ino said, her face softening.

"There's a boy that I've come to like-" Sakura began.

"Ooh Sakura likes Sasuke-kun!" one of the other girls screeched. Ino stiffened; her eyes widened as she stared in shock. They might fight about Naruto and remain friends, but even Sakura knew their friendship wouldn't last if they were into the same boy. They were close enough to rivals as it was, and if they were competing for the affections of the same boy one of them would end the friendship. Thankfully, Ino had the wrong idea, and that might help her take what Sakura was going to tell her better.

"No! I like Naruto-kun" Sakura denied the claim firmly then trailed off.

"WHAT!?"

"Did I hear that right!?"

"You're joking!"

"Hahahaha!"

The other girls roared with laughter at Sakura's declaration. Of course, they shared the same opinion that all the villagers did and not just because Sasuke thought so too. But Sakura didn't care what they thought. These weren't her friends. Ino was. All that mattered was Ino's reaction.

"You don't like Sasuke-kun?" Ino whispered, barely audible with the raucous laughter around. Sakura shook her head. She could see why the girls were into him. He was the last Uchiha in Konoha. He carried the last Sharingan which could be passed on hereditarily. There was also a certain mystique about him that appealed to a lot of girls. But he was cold, and distant. Naruto was warm and kind. He stuck up for her without care for the risks to himself. He'd been ignored or bullied all his life and did his best to ensure those he cared about never had to feel that. He was loyal and passionate about his dreams. If these other girls could open their eyes they would see what an amazing guy he was.

"I don't agree, but I'll accept it," Ino whispered again. She stepped back and stood up straight, pointing at Sakura.

"Alright then Fore-head girl, let's see how your dobe does against my Sasuke-kun!" she shouted over the laughter. This silenced the girls quickly.

"What do you mean _your_ Sasuke-kun!?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself Pig!"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP!" a voice bellowed. Everyone looked towards the training area to see Sasuke storming off, his practise interrupted. Sakura glanced at Ino to see her smiling slightly at her.

"Wait Sasuke-kun!"

"Don't leave because of those two Sasuke-kun!"

The girls chased after the Uchiha to see where he would be headed. Sakura and Ino were left alone, facing each other.

"Go," Sakura said, smiling back at Ino.

"If this is what you want I accept it, but my Sasuke-kun _will_ beat your Naruto!" Ino declared as she ran to make up for lost ground.

"As if!" Sakura yelled, but her friend was already gone. Sakura didn't mind that Ino had gotten the last word in. The important thing was that she still had her friend, and didn't need to choose between her and Naruto.

Sakura left the training area more determined than ever to help Naruto achieve his dream. If he wanted to be Hokage, he had to be stronger than anyone else, including Sasuke. Ino was going to get a big surprise the next time Sasuke and Naruto fought.

**Author's Notes:**

Thank you everyone for putting up with the long wait in between chapters. I have a number of poor excuses if anyone is interested:

Christmas  
New Year  
Extra work over the Summer holidays (Southern Hemisphere)  
Summer holidays themselves  
My first taijutsu spar was hard to write, even though it was short

Like I said, poor excuses.

A big thank you to my betas: Brysinga, PolePoleson91 and zacbrown12. You guys have been great at noticing errors I've missed and amazing for bouncing ideas off. Without you, this chapter would be at least slightly different.

Also a shout out to the Naruto wiki site. I've been using this site as a reference for some of my information and you haven't steered me wrong yet. Please don't :P


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